Blues Creek Gibson L1 replica in figured maple

[Darryl Young]

Looking good Dave!

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I believe an ebony pickguard would look splendid!

Kevin

[Dave Sayers]

Thank you everybody for your kind comments. I've measured up a piece of ebony against the guitar for a pick guard but it will be a bit small and won't look right, well not to my eyes. Looking back at the 1915/20's L1's I note that the tailpiece fitted guitars had a floating pickguard a bit like the Les Paul thing. I'll have to look into it, but the action is promising to be low on this one, so it may not be possible. I'll order the supports anyway if I can source them and see how it looks.
Side bending jig has arrived and been installed, along with the fret arbor, so I'll be getting the jobs done on the L1 and then I've got some sapele pieces to try my hand at side bending.

[SKBarbour]

Looking good! I also like the idea of an ebony pick guard.

[Dave Sayers]

There's not a lot to be done to the L1 until the wood binding arrives and also the finish, so I decided to have a try of my new side bending machine with some sapele. This is the first try. Although this was scrap sapele I bought 6 pieces of for £4 in a boot sale I think I might go on and try a complete build.
I also knocked together a plate joining jig which I'll try tomorrow, and use the sapele to make a back and top. Why not?.

[tippie53]

looks like it bent just fine

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Looks good. I think Sapele doesn't get the honor it deserves. I love the ribbon look, and the guitars I think sound better than Honduras Mahogany.
I say make the guitar with your boot sale wood and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Kevin

[Dave Sayers]

Considering I was expecting to be knee deep in fractured wood I was very pleased. Now I must get a 14 Fret Dreadnaught mold.

[ruby@magpage.com]

Here is what one looks like with a tortoise pickguard

Ed Minch

[Dave Sayers]

That looks really good, Ruby.

The L1 build is going a little slowly at the moment as heavy storm, hospital appointments and other distractions are wasting time. Yesterday we had a cloudburst so powerful it was blowing a dense sheet of rain through the small gaps in the window frame at the top of the window and below the eaves!

Anyway, the binding is in place and just needs to be worked down a little. I much prefer wood binding, having used it. It was bent to shape on my side bender and then I could paint on the glue and tape it in place. Far more relaxed and civilised than Weldtite.

I've also included a quiz in the bottom picture. I know it is difficult to source things at the right price, but let's have a guess. Which of these two step down voltage convertors powers my side bending jig without breaking wind. Is it the one on the left, or the one on the right? I'll give you a clue, It's black.